Persona 3: Final Goodbyes
by Geekgirltori
Summary: Three years after the events of Persona 3 Portable, Minako Arisato, the female protagonist, is still in a coma and shows no signs of improvement. Though her friends have been visiting her, the doctors think it's nearing time to pull the plug. Now it is time for her friends to say their goodbyes, with hope that Minako may still awaken.
1. Junpei Iori

AN: Hello everyone! So this is a one-shot series idea that I've had for a while and I've been procrastinating for about a year and a half or more trying to write it and getting it in my head. I have some rough drafts in different notebooks and whatnot trying to get it right. And finally I decided to write it like this.

There will be two different endings to this fic and for each romanceable character in the game, there will be two different stories for them; one friendship, one romance. So here goes nothing! This is Junpei's story. Enjoy, favorite, and comment! 3

**Final Goodbyes: Junpei Iori**

The hospital room was bright as Junpei entered to visit her. This wasn't the first time he'd been here and it certainly wouldn't be the last. He had asked the doctor if Minako had shown any improvement in her condition, but he sadly shook his head.

"She's still in a coma." The doctor told him, "We don't know when she will wake up." Junpei sighed as he looked upon his once energetic friend. He walked to a bedside chair and sat down, looking across the hospital bed to a table by the window. There were sunflowers in a vase reaching for the sunlight pouring through the glass window. A small smile spread across Junpei's face.

"Good to know they still visit you, huh?" he said. He took his cap from his head and placed it in his lap. He quietly sat listening to the steady beeping from Minako's heart monitor. What to others may be an annoying sound was quite comforting to Junpei. It told him his friend was still alive. That she could still wake up…

Junpei could hear chatter from the hallway outside of various doctors and nurses talking about what patients to move where and who was here, who had been released. He listened in for a while to hear if there was anything said about Minako. When he didn't hear anything, he began to tune the voices out with his own thoughts. What was he going to say to her now? He tried to visit as often as he could without seeming like he was obsessing over her; without worrying the doctors that he would run away with her. Though, he was sure the others must have shown the same type of behavior. Especially the one she loved. Junpei couldn't imagine how hard it was for _him_ to see her like this. Well, he _could_. He had been there with Chidori when she was hospitalized, though she was awake through it. He knew it wasn't certain if she could hear him, if she could hear anything in her state, but he had hope. They all did.

"So…" Junpei began. It was always awkward for him to talk to her at the beginning of his visits. He was never sure if she could really hear him or if she was conscious enough to understand. Even though it had been a long time since she entered her coma, he still remembered their conversations together. How Minako would always have a smile for him and make him feel wanted and warm. Like she was always interested in what he had to say even if it was the most unimportant thing. She made him feel like he belonged somewhere after years of feeling alone. And he was sure she still had his house key. He didn't know where she kept it, but he knew, in his heart, it was still in her possession…somewhere.

"How have you been?" Junpei winced as soon as the words left his mouth. What a stupid thing to ask. She couldn't answer him so why would he ask her a question? He was beating himself up in his mind. Then he thought of what she would say in the moment.

Minako would tell him to relax. She would calmly put a hand on his arm and smile, like she always did.

"Calm down, Junpei." She would say, "You just made a mistake. We all do. Just try again." So Junpei did. He took a moment, took a breath. He imagined her soft hand touching his shoulder as gently as she could, her comforting smile and the little giggle she would let out when she saw he was flustered. It never made him feel like she was laughing at him, it made him feel like he was just being silly. After he gathered his thoughts, Junpei tried again.

"I've…I've been okay lately; still in school. I think I told you about that, right? I'm going to college now. I took a year off, but I figured I should do something with my life. Working at the Ramen Shop is great and all, but I definitely don't want to do it forever."

Junpei had started working at the Ramen Shop at the start of his Senior Year. He loved the memories he shared there and figured what a better place to work. It kept him on his toes and made him enough money in two and a half years to go to college. He still worked there to keep a steady income, but he was finally going to make something of himself. He knew how important that was to her. Minako always wanted him to succeed. She convinced him that he was intelligent and good enough to succeed. He would be doing a disservice to her if he threw all that away, wouldn't he?

"I'm doing pretty well." Junpei said, "I mean, I'm not a super honors student, but I'm passing well enough and that's something. I don't know if I told you my major yet. I'm still kinda trying to decide. I still don't really know for sure what I want to do. Maybe something to do with helping people or maybe even working here as a male nurse. That doesn't sound weird or non-masculine, does it?" Junpei chuckled to himself as he thought.

"Heh. They might as well hire me on the spot I've been around so much. I pretty much know how this place works." He knew she would have laughed at that. Maybe if she could hear him she was laughing somehow.

Junpei grabbed his cap and stood, then began to walk around the hospital room. This is often how things went when he visited Minako. He would feel awkward at first because she never answered, she couldn't answer, but as time passed and he began to talk more, he would get comfortable; almost as if it were a normal conversation with her. He could imagine what she would be doing as he spoke, what she would look like. Her facial expressions, the way she sat or stood when he would go on his tangents. The only difference now was, when he stopped talking, there was no one to talk back. But until that realization, Junpei continued his one-sided conversation.

"Sometimes I feel bad, ya know? Sometimes I feel like; well maybe I _should_ know what I want to do…and I feel like I'm being pressured to make the decision." He begins to pace around the room, flailing his arms as he speaks and talking with his hands, "but then whenever I think that, I hear your voice in my head. 'It's okay, Junpei! You'll figure it out. It'll take some time, but you're smart and I know you can do it'! I just…I feel like you're there with me when I get stressed out and want to give up." He smiles, but it soon develops a melancholic quality. Turning back to her, he now realizes that she will not answer; he realizes he is nearly alone in the room with his best friend who hasn't moved in nearly 3 years. As he becomes silent, he hears the voices from outside the door. They're talking again, but this time it's about _her_.

"Her condition isn't improving." A female voice whispers.

"It's not getting worse." Says another.

"Yes, but it isn't getting better…" This one is a male voice. The doctor perhaps?

"Who is the next-of-kin? We have to think about…taking her off."

"She has no next of kin. Miss Arisato is an orphan, her parents passed in the explosion of '99."

"And no living will?"

"No."

"So then that leaves the decision to us…"

There is a pause and Junpei moves closer to the door. His heart is pounding. The voices resume.

"But what about her friends? They've all visited so many times in the past three years and we can barely get them to leave when visiting hours end. What if they still have hope she will wake up?"

"We can't take that chance, you know that. She's not responding to any of our tests and there are no signs that she is still receptive to stimuli."

"Give her some more time, doctor. I couldn't stand to see those kids lose her. They're all she has…and it seems she's all they have too…"

Another pause…Junpei squeezes his cap in his hands and two drips fall to the floor from his eyes. His breathing becomes choppy; it's taking everything he has to hold back a flood of tears. Once again, the voices resume.

"Very well. We'll give it another week…but if there's no sign of improvement we need to make a decision."

"Thank you, doctor!"

Junpei hears footsteps walking away and the door to Minako's room slides open. A female nurse stands in the doorway, surprised to see Junpei standing so close.

"Oh! Mister Iori I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were there!" she pauses, noticing his expression. Sullen, almost as if he is merely a standing corpse, "Mister Iori, are you alright?" She puts her hands on Junpei's shoulders, causing him to snap out of his trance. He wipes his moistened eyes and takes a step back.

"Y-Yeah…I'm fine." He replies, voice shaking.

"Visiting hours are almost over." The nurse says with a sad smile.

"Just…just give me a few more minutes with her, okay?" Junpei turns to Minako's bed.

"Of course." The nurse says, "I'll make sure they know not to kick you out." She turns back to face the door and closes it behind her as she exits, leaving Junpei alone with Minako once again. Holding back his tears, he walks to the chair on her bedside and sits. He rolls it up as close as he can get to her bed and rests a hand on her arm; it's cold. With a sigh, he speaks.

"I really miss you, Minako. Hell, we all do. You were what kept us all going." His voice quivers, so he clears his throat, "I just…I want to thank you. For everything, Minako. You made me the person I am today. You talked me out of my funk when Chidori…when Chidori got hurt. You even saved her life. I can't thank you enough for that…"

Junpei sighs. He doesn't know what else he can say without crying. Minako was, _is_, his best friend. She changed his life from the moment he met her and he wasn't ready to let her go; he _can't_ let her go.

"You are the strongest person I've ever met, Minako. I know you can beat this thing…I_ know_ you can. I told you I'd have your back whenever you needed me. I still do." Junpei looks down at his cap. He squeezes it again in his hand before gently lifting Minako's arm and placing it under her hand.

"Tell you what." He began, "When you wake up…you bring this back to me. You come to the dorm and you bring it back, dammit! And then we'll have a huge celebration! The biggest one yet, just you wait!" A voice over the intercom interrupts him.

"_**Attention! Visiting Hours have now ended. Before leaving, please proceed to the front desk and sign out with our receptionist. Have a nice day!**__"_

Junpei stands slowly, patting Minako's shoulder as gently as he can.

"Guess that's my cue to go. Hang in there, Minako…and remember what I said about that cap…I'm not letting you keep this one." He smirks as he removes his hand from Minako's shoulder and turns to the door. When he reaches it, he pauses, glancing back at her. Perhaps he'd hoped in those few seconds, she would wake up and everything would go back to the way it was…Perhaps he wouldn't have to see her at the dorm, maybe he could _take_ her there. But it wasn't so. She was still lying there, motionless, the shell of a once energetic young girl; the shell of his best friend. Junpei hangs his head as he slides the door open, and slowly closes it behind him for the final time…


	2. Yukari Takeba

AN: Thank you to all the people who started following this little story of mine. I really appreciate it! Hope you like what's to come. I would love to hear from you who you romanced in the game, though. Personally I started with Akihiko, but fell for Ryoji on my second playthrough.

Anywho, R&R please! Love you all!

**Yukari Takeba**

The door to Minako's hospital room slides open slowly and Yukari enters, closing the door equally as slow behind her. She always tried to be quiet when she visited, as if Minako were just sleeping soundly, and she tried not to wake her. Yukari sighs sadly as she looks upon her comatose friend in the white hospital bed. Walking to the corner of the bed, Yukari turns to the wall, away from Minako. She always felt guilty when she visited her. She felt as if it were her fault that Minako was in this state. If only she had remembered sooner. If only she had been faster, if she had noticed the changes. Why didn't she write the events of nearly 4 years ago down somewhere? She might have remembered then…

It was always difficult for Yukari to start to speak. If she tried, her voice would crack and she would start to tear up. When Minako was first in the hospital after the very first fight against the full moon Shadow, Yukari barely left her side. She had to be shooed out by Mitsuru and Akihiko. This time, Yukari barely visited. She would come to see Minako maybe once every few months, if that. It was too difficult for her, she thought, she wasn't strong enough. She was never strong enough…

Minako would never say that…Minako would convince her of her strength. And, seeing the bigger picture, Yukari was pretty strong. She had assisted in defeating NYX three years ago. She had stood up to her mother after years of fighting and now got along with her. She made _friends_ and got over her jealousy for Mitsuru. They were still best friends. However, Yukari could never thing of Mitsuru being as close a friend to her as Minako is…was…is?

Taking a breath, Yukari nodded to herself.

"_You can do this, Yukari._" She told herself, "_Just talk to her…this may be your last chance…_" After a moment, Yukari turned to face the bed. She altered her breathing so it would hold back her tears. It never got easier…why didn't it get easier for her? Was it easier for Mitsuru? Probably…For Aigis? Fuuka? What about _him_? _He_ loved her, didn't he? Was it easy for _him_? Yukari hoped that she wasn't the only one.

Thinking about her words, Yukari finally spoke. Her voice was cracked and one could tell she could cry at any moment.

"H-Hi, Minako…" she breathed in as well as she could, "I…I'm sorry I haven't been around for a while…I just…" Yukari paused. She noticed the sunflowers sitting next to her, they were beginning to wilt, so she walked to them, fluffing them as well as she could, moving them closer to the windows to get more sun. Mostly, she was distracting herself. Yukari hated to cry. She hated to cry in front of others almost as much as she hated crying alone. There wasn't a night since Minako fell into her coma that Yukari didn't shed at least one tear for her. It was like her father dying all over again. Not quite as painful, but a very close second. Unlike the others, Yukari didn't hope. She didn't have any left. So much had happened in the last 4 years that Yukari was almost devoid of all hope she had left. Perhaps she had a shred of hope left that Minako would wake up. Maybe she was only preparing herself for the worst case scenario. She was preparing for if…_when_…Minako would die…

"Junpei told me…he told all of us…" Yukari said, fiddling with the petals on the flowers; feeling their softness with her fingers, "He said the doctors are getting ready to…" She paused again, wiping her eyes. She hated thinking about Minako dying…

"I know you wouldn't want me thinking about that kind of stuff, but I have to, you know? I _need_ to prepare myself if it happens…and I know you'd understand that. You were always so good about that. Always so good at seeing the positive things in life, something I could never do." Yukari stopped touching the flowers and walked to the chair next to Minako's bed. She paused before sitting down in it. She noticed Junpei's cap in Minako's arm and smiled.

"So that's where Stupei left that. I was wondering why he didn't have it when he came back to the dorm." Yukari laughed slightly, "I still call him that, you know; Stupei. It's almost like a little dedication to you in my everyday life." When she thought about saying "dedication", Yukari felt her eyes heat up. She fanned her face with her hands to keep the moisture inside.

"It's just really hard without you, Minako. Really hard…" she said, voice shaky, "Ugh…what would you want me to say…? It's been a while since I came, and I'm really sorry…What was the last thing I talked about with you…?" Yukari thought. How long _had_ it been since she visited Minako; two…three months? It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was the combination of her busy schedule and the pain she felt every time she even _thought_ of seeing Minako in this state.

"I don't know if I told you about school, did I? Oh well…guess I'll tell you again…" Yukari told her she was going to school on a scholarship from the Archery Club. Once she applied to college, she had to think about what she would major in.

"I think it would have been easier to decide if you were there, but I came up with something. I'm going for Human Services and Counseling. I'm going to be a family counselor for families like mine. I don't want anyone to have to fight with their parents and kids. Even if it's a single-parent household, every family should be happy and get along. That's what I'm doing with my life." You could hear the pride in Yukari's voice. She knew Minako would be proud of her too. She knew Minako would congratulate her and tell her how happy she was for her. Yukari only wished she could _hear_ Minako say it…

"I'm going to a local school so I can still stay in the dorm with everyone. I'd hate to be far away from my support-system. Plus it gives me a chance to live on my own without a roommate or more money invested in an on-campus dorm. Oh! I'm also working part-time at the flower shop. Everyone always tells me I smell really good when I come home after working there. I've always loved that place. I was going to work at the café at first, but then I decided the flower shop was a better atmosphere. Not that the café isn't cool or anything." Yukari thought more on what to say. Once she got to talking, her words seemed to flow like a river. It made her feel a _little_ better about the situation. There was a lot to talk about, but she wasn't sure how much she could say. She knew some of the others stories intertwined with hers and she didn't want to step on anyone's toes. When visiting Minako, every story was precious to the storyteller. It was like a special thing just between the person and Minako. Despite the fact that Minako couldn't respond, Yukari still felt it was important she not tell anyone else's information.

"I know some of us haven't visited for a while, but we were…away." Yukari told her, "There was an interesting set of events in a town called Inaba. If you take the train west, you can get there, but we went with Mitsuru in her limo. But I'll let her tell you more when she comes to see you. I wouldn't want her to have to repeat information." She puts a finger to her lips, thinking hard, "Jeez…what else is there to say…?"

Yukari stood up and began to pace to see if that would get her thought process going. Her thoughts drifted to Junpei. She smiled slightly at the thought of him and her memories of the day before had begun to wash over her.

"You know I've kinda realized something. You probably saw it before, but I kinda…I think I _like_ Junpei." She laughed nervously, "Chidori ended up moving away after Takaya and Jin…you know…and she and Junpei stayed together for a while after, but they kinda drifted apart. They still care about each other and everything, and Chidori still comes to visit, but they're just friends now. I know Junpei still loves her, I'm pretty sure he always will…but…I guess I hope that he has room in his heart for someone else; for _me_. That doesn't sound cheesy or anything, right?" She laughed quietly thinking about what Minako would say in that moment.

"I know you'd tell me, 'So you finally figured it out, huh? Took ya long enough! But I'm happy for you. Just wait it out and don't be afraid to tell him your feelings. Just make sure _he's_ ready to hear them'. You were always so wise; so easy to talk to. I could never open up to anyone else like I could to you. Hah, I've never even told anyone about the whole Junpei thing and I've liked him for two years!" Yukari sighed, thinking about all kinds of things. Memories of her and Minako flooded her mind and became so vivid it was as if it was playing on a movie screen before her.

"I know I don't visit a lot, but don't think for a second that it's because I don't care. You're by far the best friend I've ever had and I would never want to upset you. It's just, every time I see you like this, I feel like it's _my_ fault. I feel like I could have done something for you or stopped you from fighting NYX. It's so hard to see you like this when I know how you were before. I never want you to think that I don't constantly think about you because I do. I think about it all the time. I wish you were with me all the time! I just…I'm afraid of being wrong. I'm afraid that you'll die and I'll be so positive that you were going to make it that it would literally destroy me." This time, Yukari let her tears flow. She had been holding them back for so long and it was harder to keep them back than to let them go. She grabbed the edge of the hospital bed as tears dripped on the blankets beneath her. She began to yell, not scream, but her voice was raised in desperation and slight anger.

"You can't die, Minako! You_ can't_! Don't you know we're all counting on you to pull through! You're all we have; you're all anyone can think about! Please, Minako! _PLEASE _come back to us! You have to! We're so lost without you, don't you get that!? JUST WAKE UP! _PLEASE_!"

Yukari drops to her knees and begins to sob as one hand holds onto the foot of the bed. She lets her tears continue to make sure when she returns home, she won't have to worry anyone. It takes her a few moments to calm down, but when she does she stands slowly, making sure to brace herself as she does so. She looks at her friend, lying motionless before her. She slowly walks to the side of the bed and puts a hand on Minako's cold wrist. She listens closely to the heart monitor as she inhales deeply, then exhales.

"I meant what I said. I'm not letting you get away with this. You have no choice but to come back to us. Because I swear if you die I will make heaven horrible for you….A lot has happened these past few years…we've been practically breaking our backs trying to find a way to bring you back, Minako. Please…_please_ don't let it be in vein…"

Yukari pats Minako's wrist gently and smiles a heart-broken smile. She looks to the door, then to the clock on the wall in the room.

"I have to go now…we miss you…don't ever forget that…" she stands and walks to the door, turning back a last time, "See you soon, okay?" Yukari opens the door and exits, sliding it closed behind her.


End file.
